A frozen McRib picture that hit the internet this week makes the fan-favorite sandwich at McDonald’s look closer to industrial housing insulation than food.

The picture showed up on the link-sharing site Reddit, with an employee holding a still frozen McRib that was all white and didn’t appear to be edible. The picture is believed to have come from Canada, and it brought a wide variety of responses. Some people were appalled at the quite obviously mass-produced slab of meat, while McRib fans admitted there would be little to dissuade them from eating one.

Others doubted that the frozen McRib picture was really the same piece of meat that would later be covered in barbecue sauce and topped with onions and a pickle.

When asked if the frozen McRib picture really showed the sandwich patty, McDonald’s issued this statement:

“There are few things more legendary at McDonald’s than the McRib. It is a boneless, seasoned pork patty on a bun with slivered onions, two dill pickle slices and plenty of our sweet, smoky, barbecue style sauce. One reason our customers love the McRib is its fun and wonderful shape. Just like a burger patty is formed to be round and flat, we form the iconic McRib in the shape of traditional ribs. We then flash freeze the patty to seal in flavor and freshness, just like you freeze meat in your own freezer, before going to our restaurants. The McRib is also known for its iconic taste, which is why we use a quality cut of pork – pork shoulder – to give our McRib lovers a thicker, meatier McRib experience.”

Despite the picture of the frozen McRib, the seasonal sandwich remains a fan favorite at McDonald’s. The restaurant chain rolls it out every year in the winter time, when sales start to slow down a bit.

The sandwich gives a jump start to sales at McDonald’s, experts say.

“The winter is seasonally a slower period,” said Howard Penney, restaurant analyst and managing director at Hedgeye Risk Management, told Ad Age. “A lot of people underestimated the massive impact the weather had on sales.”

The sandwich is so popular, in fact, that Burger King announced earlier this year that it was introducing a McRib knockoff that it would introduce during the summer so as not to directly compete with McDonald’s.

Fans of the sandwich who happen to be appetized by the frozen McRib picture won’t have to wait too much longer to get their hands on one. The sandwich has started to make its annual return to the McDonald’s menu, and is expected to continue expanding to further locations.